Jeremy, I love the traffic on our bottle-necked, two-lane highways. I've been told by locals that's what makes Seattle a "special" place. Doesn't Portland want to be "special" too? But seriously, I started lurking here recently after a friend from WSJ Europe told me about XPlane. It's delightful to see the linking of art, communication and marketing -- along with an accomplished staff -- to bridge the lingering gap. This is something a lot of freelance artists, informational graphics firms and in-house design departments, working in conjunction with makerting departments, were never able to do effectively.

Hi Dave, I read the job descriptions and have another idea I would like to share with you as well. I will certainly send my application this week.

Cheers,Joanne

P.S. I recently included the graphic of the "XPLANE Culture Map" on the front cover of my thesis for my Certificate in Professional Coaching. My paper was on Organisational Effectiveness and I thought your culture map was a fantastic visual representation of this. I have given credit to you and XPLANE and want to thank you for contributing to the very high mark I received!

The beauty of the Portland/Seattle rivalry, really, is that most people in the Pacific Northwest have found a way to love both cities. Arguing about their differences is like arguing about two different shades of green when green is everyone's favorite color.

Truth be told, I'd take either one in a heartbeat, if I could convince my wife to move back to that rain-drenched corner of the world. Fort Lauderdale's got nothing on either city.

Home prices in the Pacific Northwest, mainly Seattle and Portland, make it prohibitive for many families (and some individuals) to relocate to this region... particulary from areas where housing spike has been minimal. Most metropolitan areas in the U.S. are experiencing a downturn in the market while Seattle and Portland are still in denial. Sometimes I wonder why anyone would want to pay $500k for a 80-year-old, two-bedroom home in my neighborhood. Portland's the same way too, but residents there have far less job opportunities and make relatively less money than folks here in Seattle. From a purely practical standpoint, St. Louis ain't that bad... and there's a way cool looking arch (not McDonalds) there to boot. You just have deal with the humidity and some financial-challenged people who think you're a walking ATM machine.

Are you any closer to considering an office/base/Account Manager in London?

Incidentally I met with an old friend Surj today in London, and he says he is the guy who works in the office above the xplane office and makes a racket when his chair rolls across the room... can this be true?

We don't have an XPLANE office in London so I am not sure what your friend is talking about -- it could be the other xplane (flight simulator software). At any rate we would like to open an office in the UK but don't have a concrete timetable as yet.